Sliding door construction



Feb. 12, 1935. E. w. C LARK SLIDING DOOR CONSTRUCTION Original FiledAug. 17, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Feb. 12, 1935. w, A K I 1,990,470 SLIDINGDOOR CONSTRUCTION Original Filed Aug. 1'7, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 2Patented Feb. 12, 1935 I imam SLIDING noon CONSTRUCTION 'Earl W. Clark,Warren, Ohio, assignor, by mesne assignments, to National ManufacturingCompany, Sterling, 111., a corporation of Illinois Original applicationAugust 17, 1929, Serial No. 1 386,622, now Patent No. 1,948,065. Dividedand this application November 10, 1933, Serial'No.

3 Claims.

This invention relates to sliding door constructions, and moreparticularly to a modification of the type adapted to be moved from anopen position to a closed position along a predetermined path, and viceversa, and as disclosed in my copending application, Serial No. 386,622,filed August 17, 1929, of which this application is a division.

The invention is of general application to sliding doors for furniture,such as cabinets, or larger structure, such as warehouses, elevators,and the like, and it has particular adaptability when applied to garagedoors.

The embodiment of the invention described herein has to do with agarage, but it is'to be understood at the outset that this descriptionis not intended in any way to limit the scope of the invention includingother adaptations.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide an improved closure ofthe foregoing character which is simple in construction, cheap tomanufacture and maintain, easy to operate and positive in action.

Another object is to provide a simple and im-' proved counterbalancearrangement for supporting the weight of the door and facilitating itsoperation.

A further object is to provide a counterbalance means which isadjustable to compensate for va- 30 riation in weights of doors as wellas wear to insure the proper counterbalancing of the door as initiallyinstalled and to maintain that condition.

Other objects and features of novelty will be apparent as the followingdescription proceeds, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,in which Figure 1 is an interior elevation of the front of a garageprovided with'a sliding door construc- 40 tion according to the presentinvention;

Fig. 2 is an internal elevation of one side of the garage, showing thedoor in vertical section;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail view of a portion of the structure shown inFig. 2, the operation of the device being shown more clearly byillustrating consecutive positions in dotted lines;

Fig. 4 is a horizontal section taken along the line 44 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a partial elevation of the track member for guidingv the door;and

Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 5, showing the remaining portion of thetrack.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, the invention isillustrated in connection with a garage of usual construction, having afoundation 10, sill 11, studding 12, siding-13, plate 14, rafters 15 androof boards 16. a

The front of the garage is provided with a door opening having a doorjamb 17-fitted in a'casing 18'and provided with trim 19 and a'door stopor 5 I sealing member 20 constituting an abutment for the door. I 7

In the preferred embodiment, the door proper comprises a plurality ofsections 21, 22,23 and 24, flexibly connected in series by means ofhinges 1'0 25 joining their adjacent edges.- A plurality of rollers 26areassociated with the door sections and are adapted to guide themalonglguide tracks mounted in each side of the door. These trackscomprise substantially vertical portions 7 27, 15 smoothly, curved upperportions 28, and straight horizontal extensions 29. These tracks aresup-' ported byhangers 30, and a transVerse tie member 31 serves tomaintain'the horizontal portions 29 parallel to each other. The detailsof the track, roller and hinges are shown in Fig. 4. The track ischannel shaped in cross section, and comprises a flat'or base flange 32,which .in the vertical portion 27 is secured to the casing 18 inanydesired manner.- 1 For reinforcement a' backing angle 33 is securedthereto and also secured to the casing 18. The outer flange .34 ofthechannel is providedwith a retaining rim 35, the-flange 34 being spacedfrom the flange 32 by the web 36 of uniformdepth.

Each of the hinges 25 comprises hinge members 37 and '38, respectively,and a pintle member 39 which is rigidly secured to one of thehinge-members. The member 39 projects beyond the side of v the doorsection and is bent inwardly a's'at 40, and outwardly as at 41, wherebythe end'portion 42 is parallel to but offset from the pintle 39. Theportion 42 forms a journal for the rollers 26.

Each of the rollers has associated therewith a sealing flange 43. Theflange for theupper roller 26 is of slightly smaller diameter than theassociated roller, and the respective flanges for the rollers therebeloware of uniformly decreasing diameter. v

Means are provided for engaging the respective flanges for automaticallyurging the door against the sealing member 20, as the door is loweredinto its closed position. :The' flange 34 is provided with a pluralityof wedge members or inclined earns 44. which are spaced along thevertical portion 27 of the track at the positions taken by therollerswhen the door is in its closed position. The members 44 comprise metalstraps, the two ends of which pass through slots in the flange 34 andare upset outside thereof as at 45. The members 44 are generallyU-shaped, but the bridge portion thereof is inclined or tapered, asshown, forming a wedge portion 46 and a retaining portion 47. Themembers 44 are substantially similar, but the retaining portion 47thereof is spaced further from the flange 34, toward the bottom of thedoor. Accordingly the member 44 atthe bottom of the door has a retainingportion 47 spaced a considerable distance from the flange 34, while themember 44, located near the top of the track portion 27, has a retainingportion 47 'fairly close to the flange 34.

With the construction just described, when the door approaches itsclosed position'the respective flanges 43 will engage the respectiveinclines 46 of the members 44, whichwill urge the door sections againstthe sealing member 20 and final movement of the door will ride theflanges 43 along the retaining portions 4'7 thus holding the door in itssealed position. Means are provided for counterbalancing the weight ofthe door'and' automatically retracting it into horizontal-alignment inorder to provide maximum head room. A cable 48 has one end secured-to apin 49 carriedby the lower section 24 of the door, and extends upwardalong the edge of the door and passes over a fixed pulley 5 0 journaledin a block 51 secured to the plate 14. :The cable 48 then passes under alower and movablepulley '52 and then up over a fixed pulley .53,arranged beside the pulley .50 and also journaled in the block 51.Finally the cable 49 passes under a movable pulley 54 journaled in theblock 55 in which the pulley 52 is journaled, and has its ends securedto a link 56 carried bythe block 51. The block 55 has a depending eye 57which receives the end of a heavy helical spring 58 mounted in verticalposition therebeneath and adjacent'the side ofthe door; The other end ofthe spring 58 engages an eye bolt 59 which passes through a bracket 60secured to the casing 18 and adjustable therein by means of a .nut 61.

With the foregoing counterbalancing arrangement, a considerablemovementof the door will cause a comparatively small movement of the spring 58.In theoperation of the same, the greatest door weight to be taken careof is when the door is in its closed or vertical position; and asthedoor is'moved progressively toward its open position, so that part ofthe door is supported upon the horizontal track portion 29, the carriedweight of the door becomes gradually and progressively less. Thecounter-balancing means which I have provided takes care of thisconditionin that its lifting and counterbalancing effect becomesprogressively and proportionately diminished as the door is.progressively opened and its weight is progressively borneby thehorizontal track portion 29 and vice versa. 'By mounting the spring andcounterbalancing mechanism as a'whole in vertical position, any tendencyfor the partsof such mechanism to set up a back-lash condition in theoperation of the door is eliminated. Furthermore, in the. use of aspring and pulley arrangement, such as above described, the pulleys52.and54 serve as a coun-' terweight, consequently reducing theeffective weight of the door to becounterbalanced by the spring by anamount proportionate to the efiective weight of these pulleys and thespring 58 may be of less power than required to normally balance theweight of the door. This counterweighting action is additionallyfurthered by the weight ofthe spring itself. This arrangement, in

reducing'the spring action by counterweigh i g,

enables the use of a lighter spring and also tends to preventoverworking of the spring which would tend to cause the same to breakdown and wear out after relatively short periods of use. In other words,this arrangement reduces materially the strain onthe spring structureand the life of the counterbalance is considerably increased.

The adjustable spring connection afforded by the bracket 60, eye bolt59, and nut 61 insures maintenance of the proper counterbalancing actionat all times, notwithstanding wear of the a parts or lessening of thestrength of the counterbalance spring from any cause. In other words, byadjustment of this connection, the initiallyprovided counterbalancecondition may be maintained over long periods of use. It enables theproper counterbalancing condition to be initially established and to becontinuously maintained after the door is in use.

The lowest roller is provided with a yieldable mounting-which permits itto move away from the section 24. The lowest hinge pintle is U-shaped,and the roller is mounted on the ex tended arm 62 thereof. A coil spring63 urges the arm 62 toward the section 24.

Referring now to Fig. 2, it will be noted that as thedoor is elevatedthe roller 26 associated with the section 21 will ride around the curvedportion 28 of the track and passion to the horizontal portion 29. Theremaining sections and rollers will follow along the track until all ofthe sections, except section 24, are fully supported by the tracksection 29. In this position, the roller associated with the section 21will abut against a stop member 64, located near the inner end of thetrack section 29. As the upper'sections are all fullysupported by thehorizontal track portion 29, the entire force of the spring 58 will beexerted on the pin 59 carrying the lower section 24. The result of thiscondition is that the spring 58 will overcome the force of the spring 63and snap the section 24 into substantial horizontal alignment with theremainingsections, thus'providing clear head room for the garage dooropening.

The preferred embodiment of the'invention has been shown and describedin considerable detail for the purposes of adequate disclosure, but thebroad idea of the invention is not limited to the details described, butincludes such embodiments as fall within the scope of the appendedclaims.

I claim: v

1. In an overhead door construction, means forming a doorway, trackmembers mounted on opposite sides of said doorway, each track membercomprising a vertical'portion, a horizontal portion and anintermediate'curved portion, a sectional door, means carried by the doorsections and engageable with said track members for guiding the doorfrom its closed position, where said means are associated with thevertical portions of said track members, to its open position. wheresaid means support the door upon the horizontal portions of said trackmembers, and counterbalancing means comprising a cable secured at oneend to the bottom of said door and at its other end to a bracket fixedto the doorway forming means adjacent the top of the door and at theside thereof, afixed pulley mounted on the doorway forming means at thetop "and adjacent the side of the door and over which that part of saidcable leading from the door passes, a vertically disposed coilspringarranged adjacent the side edge of the'door, a bracket mounted onthe doorway forming means and supporting the low-.

er end of said spring, and another pulley attached to the upper end ofsaid spring and over which said cable passes from said first pulley toits fixed bracket.

2. In an overhead door construction, means forming a doorway, trackmembers mounted on opposite sides of said doorway, each track membercomprising a vertical portion, a horizontal portion and an intermediatecurved portion, a sectional door, means carried by the door sections andengageable with said track members for guiding the door from its closedposition, where said means are associated with the vertical portions ofsaid track members, to its open position, where said means support thedoor upon the horizontal portions of said track members, andcounterbalancing means comprising vertically disposed coil spring ofless power than required to normally balance the weight of the entiredoor, said spring being adapted to assume a contracted condition whenthe door is moved to its open position and an expanded condition whenthe door is moved to its closed position, a support for the lower end ofsaid spring secured to the doorway forming means, a floating pulleyconnected to and carrying the upper end of said spring, a fixed pulleymounted above said first pulley on the doorway forming means, a cableattached at one end to the bottom of said door and passing over saidsecond pulley and then over said floating pulley, and a support fixed onthe doorway forming means for the other end of said cable, the relativepositions of the counterbalancing parts being such that said floatingpulley serves as a counterweight.

3. In an overhead door construction, means forming a doorway, trackmembers mounted on opposite sides of said doorway, each track membercomprising a vertical portion, a horizontal portion and an intermediatecurved portion, a sectional door, means carried by the door sections andengageable with said track members for guiding the door from its closedposition, where said means are associated with the vertical portions ofsaid track members, to its open position, where said means support thedoor upon the horizontal portions of said track members, andcounterbalancing means comprising a vertically disposed coil springadapted to assume a contracted condition when the door is moved to itsopen position and an expanded condition when the door is moved to itsclosed position, a fixed support for the lower end of said springmounted on the doorway forming means, floating pulley means connected toand carrying the upper end of said spring to serve additionally as acounterweight, a fixed pulley mounted above said floating pulley meanson the doorway forming means, a cable attached at one end to the bottompart of said door and passing over said fixed pulley and thence oversaid floating pulley means, and a fixed support for the other end ofsaid cable attached to said doorway forming means, the relativepositions of the counterbalance parts being such that weight of saidspring also serves as a counterweight.

EARL W. CLARK.

